'Fresh Lo' Community Project In Montbello Looks To Transform Vacant Lot Into Affordable Housing
DENVER (CBS4) - A community project in north Denver's Montbello community is looking to transform a vacant parking lot into an affordable housing development.
The Montbello Fresh local and equitable Lo Hub, or Fresh Lo for short, will be a 7-story building made of 97 one-, two-, and three-bedroom affordable housing units. The development will also have a two-story grocery store, retail stores, a cultural center, and office spaces.
The Montbello Organizing Committee bought the 1.3-acre land for $600,000 and they hope their investment will pay off.
"The purpose (of the Fresh Lo initiative) is bringing food security and arts and culture to an intersection that would lead to improved health outcomes and be an economic driver," said Donna Garnett, Executive Director of the Montbello Organizing Committee.
Having a neighborhood grocery store is a major pull for the people living in the area. According to the Montbello Organizing Committee, one in four people in Montbello do not have a car. This means they would need to take a bus to get to the nearest grocery store which is 3 miles away at Save-A-Lot and Walmart.
If they can't make it to the grocery store, then they would have to go to the convenience store at 7-Eleven or Family Dollar, which have higher food costs than at a supermarket.
"What happens is that the communities that do not have or the individuals that do not have access to grocery stores, do not end up eating as healthy as others because they are eating a lot of, I don't want to classify it as junk food, but fast foods that are not really healthy for you," said Chris Martinez, Chairman of the Board for Montbello Organizing Committee.
"You end up at a 7-Eleven which is great that has a banana and an apple, but you end up paying three or four times more for that as you would at a major grocery store," he continued.
The Fresh Lo Hub will cost about $70 million and building of the project is expected to begin at the end of the year, with completion in 2024.
